Wire bending machine



Oct. 27, 1931 v. J. IERPEN T wnw BENDING cums Filed April 30, 1924 2Sheets-Sheet 1 Fig. 2.

INVENTOR Wci'or J Vrp n? Oct. 27, 1931. v. J. VERPENT WIRE BENDINGMACHINE 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed April 30, 1924 INVENTOR V1670) J WrpeniTOR NE y Patented: Oct. 27; 1931 'FFUNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE vlcroaJ. vnnrnrmor masnr crrY, m JERSEY,ASSI'G.JOR 'ro on ronns'r RADIOTELEPHONE & TELEGRAPH COMPANY, or JERSEY CITY, New snn'sntn coaroaa- VTION OF DELAWARE Application filed A ril :0,

This invention relatesto wire bending machines and more particularly tomachines for bending the wires projecting from a stem of an electrondischargedevice It is to be un-' derstood in order that the variousparts of. an electron discharge device may be accurate 1y positionedwith respect to each other that it is highly important that the wireswhich support said parts be bent to proper and exact position, and Ihave accordinglydevised the machine constituting the present inventionfor that'purpose. I

The objects of the inventionane to obtain a very exact bending of thesupporting wires of an electron discharge device; to enable the wires tobe bent with minimum operations; to obtain all the necessary bends inthe Wires before the stem is removed from the machine; to avoid strainon the stem in bending the wires; to provide a machine whereinithe operations to be performed will not be confusing to the operator; toprovide a compact structure and one which'will not readily get out oforder as wellas one which is adapted to rapid operation; to securesimplicity of construction and operation and to obtain other advantagesand results as may brought out in the following description. 1 Referringto the accompanying drawings in which like numerals of referenceindicate similar parts throughout the several views; Figure l is aperspective view of a machine embodying my invention showing the hingedclamp and slide in raised or inopera :15 tivc position; i

Figure 2 is aside elevation showing said clamp and slide in lowered oroperative position' Figiire?) is a central sectionalview of the 4odevice as shown in Figure 1; I

Figure 4 is a pers ective view of a por-i tion ofthe device as'shown inFigure 3;

Figure 5 is al perspective'view of the'top clamp and slide; i

Figure 6 is a sectional view showing a cer-"' .tain retracting holdingmember; and

Figure 7 is a perspective view of a stem with the wires bent by themachine.

In the specific embodiment of the invention illustrated in saiddrawings, reference nu-.

wmn nnnmno Macrame f 1924. Serial n6. 709,963.

meral 1 indicates a fixed base upon which,at the forward end, is mounteda slide 2. Said slide is adapted to be moved longitudinally of the baseand swung toward and from the same for which reason the slide is carriedin a suitable slideway in a hinged member 3. If

posts 4, 5' 6 which are slotted trans versely across their upper endsfor receiving the wires to be bent. In the specific structure ofelectron discharge device for which the present machine is made, thereare seven wires to be bent, for which reason I have shown six bendingposts arranged in spaced relation to each other so asto bend each ofthe, wires in offset relation to the others; As clearly shownin Figure 7the bends in the wire are so the bendsin the outside wires are nearestto the stem, the bends in the next to outside wires area little furtherfrom the stem, and the bends in the two wires next to the center one arestill further from the stem; all of these wires being in the same planeand bent outwardly with respect to the center wire.

It is to be understood that the bending of these wires is accomplishedwhile the hinged member of the slide is in its lowered position so thewires'cannot get out of the slots in the bending posts. I e

After these six wires are all bent outwardly by the bending posts, theslide is moved rearwardly and operates certain mechanism to bend thetwo'outside wires again in the plane of said wires'and in the samegeneral direction as where they issue from the stem, but olfsettherefromas clearly shown in Figure 7. 'At the same time that theseoutside wiresare being bent to provide the offsetportions, the middle wire isbeing-bent so asto provide an end portion which is oilset from the planeof the remaining wires.

This completes the operations upon the wires, and the machine is thenoperated to return the slide to its original position without turningthe bending posts back to their original positions. The slide and hingedmember may then be swung upwardly and the stem and wires removed, afterwhich the bending posts are returned to their original positions, andthe machine is ready for operating upon another stem and wires.

The specific structure which I employ for operating the severalmechanisms is preferably that shown in the drawings, but there aremechanical equivalents which may be substituted and which I contemplatein the present invention. The bending posts 4, 5 and 6 project upwardlythrough a support 7 above the base, said posts having merely a rotarymotion in sail support and prevented from longitudinal or lateraldisplacement therein. The invention contemplates the use of means forboth rotating and revolving or swinging the bending posts 4, 5 and 6simultaneously so as to give the said posts an eccentric movement in thedirection of bending of the wires so as to enable the bending posts tofollow around with the wire while bending the same and thus effect thebend without applying any strain to the stem. This is very important,because of the fact that the stem is of glass and of such abrittlecharacter that it will break quite easily. In order to obtain thiscombined rotating and revolving or eccentric motion of the bend ingposts l, 5 and 6, the lower ends thereof are provided with levers Sfastened upon the posts and each set is in pivotal'connection with aslide bar 9 so as to obtain a rotary and revel ing motion of the postsby sliding said slide bar back and forth, (see Figure 4). It is to benoted I retain the slide bars against lateral displacement as the samearo moi ed longitudinally, and provide for movement of the supports 7 ina direction perpendicular to the direction of movement of the slide bar.In other words, the slide bars move forwardly and rearwardly whereas thesupports 7 move sidewise.

In order to operate the slide bars, I provide a handle'lO pivoted. as at11, at its lower end to the base and having pivoted between its ends adouble link 12. Link 12 extends forwardly and has a cross'pin 13 adaptedto engage in a slot 14' in a cam lever 15 for swinging said cam lever'15upon its pivot 16. Also extending throughthe cam lever 15 at a distancefrom the pivot 16 is another pin 17 which engages, at its 'oppc siteends in the slide bars so as to move the slide bars back and forth asthe cam lever is swung upon itspivot. It may be here noted that theconnection of the operating linlr with the cam lever is through theagency of a slot so arranged that the cam lever will be swung the properamount and then the cross pin 13 will leave the slot and ride onnecessary and not require the lever to be brought up against a stop.

Actuation of the supports 7 is obtained at the front end by the rotationof the bending posts'which obviously have to revolve about the pivotalmounting of the lovers 8 at their lower ends. At the rear part of thesupports 7 the same are actuated sidewise by means of a cam projection18 on cam lever 15 which wedgingly introduced itself between thesupports 7 at the same time it is operating the slide bar. Any suitablemeans, such as springs, may be em ployed for returning the supports 7 totheir initial or normal position toward each other. In order that thesupports 7 may spread apart sidewise and will provide a pivotal mountingfor the cam member 15, the pivot 16 is preferably fast with respect tosaid cam member and slidable longitudinally of itself within thesupport. is prevented from lateral displacement by means of an arcuateridge 19 along its lower edge, one portion of which is at all timeswithin a groove 20 cut for the purpose in base 1. It is to be observedthat the bending posts operate upon all but the center wire to give theman initial bond laterally.

In order to give thewires thesecondary or final bend, the slide comesinto play. Provided in the hinged member .are a pair of holding members21 which are normally retracted in the hinged member so as not to be inthe way during the initial bending of the wires. Means are provided forejecting the holding members 21, 21 after the initial bending andimmediately before the secondary bending, said holding members beingejected so as to lie against the outside wires near where the bend is tobe effected. Pivoted at the outside of the outside wires atsubstantially the point where the bend is to be made therein, are a pairof right angle bending members 22 having wire engaging surfaces 23.Afterthe initial bend in the wire is made the wire projects laterallybeneath the slide and hinged member and rests at one portion against thewire engaging surface 23 of the right angle bending me nber. At thattime-the retracting holding members 21 are ejected on the opposite sideof the wire so that as the bending members are rotated from the positionshown in ure 1 to the position shown in Figure the wire will. be bentaround the holding memher in continued engagement with surface The cammember pin has effected the required rotary motion of'the-bending memberthe bending mem-' her is held in position as the pin passes along theoutsidewall' of the bending memthe cam retaining the cam in its properpo-' sition. It is to be observed that the camcooperates with a slot inthe to'pofthe base portion --1 for 'forcingthe wire downwardly intooffset relation. 7 I

In order to operate the holding members 21 to be ejected and retractedas above described, I have shown said members slidably mounted, inFigure 6, in the hinged member with their inner ends projectingtherethrough into engagement with the slide 2. The slide is providedwith a slot 31 deep enough to permit the holding member to retract sothe outer end will'be flush with the hinged mem ber. The end of the slotand the adjacent end of the holding member are both sloped so that whenthe two come together the ho ding member will be forced out of the slotand thus slide so that its outer end will be ejected from the hingedmember. When the slide is brought back so its slot registers with theholding member, the said holding member retracts under the influence ofa spring 33.

In the operation of the device the wires are placed in the severalbending posts 4, 5 and 6 clearly shown in Figure 1 after which thehinged member 3 is turned down which prevents the wires from coming outof the bending posts. A yoke 34 pivotally carried by the base is swungup to overlie the hinged member and prevent it from swinging up duringthe various manipulations upon the wire. Next handle 10 is swung all theway rearwardly which operates first to turn and spread the bending postsand thus obtain a righ" angle bend in the wires after which. the handlecomes into engagement with a cross pin. 35 on a link 36 connected withthe slide 52 of the hinged member 3. Continued swinging of handle 10thereupon operates thebending devices of the hinged member which obtaius a further bending of the outside wires and an offset bending ofthe middle wires. This completes operation upon the particular wires andthe operator then draws forwardly on yoke 34until the slide 2 returns toits initial position. It is to be observed that this operationdoes notreturn the handle 10 to its orignial position. The parts are so relatedthat when the yoke is swung to its initial position-and at such timeonly can the hinged member be swung upwardlypast the yoke. Afterswinging the hinged member up the stem. and wires are removed from thema chine, whichleaves the bending posts with their slots directedsidewise. The bending posts are now returned to their initial positionby swinging handle 10' all the way forward thus preparing the machine toreceive the ne'xtstem and wires.

Obviously detail changes andmodification 7 maybe made in the manufactureand use of] my improved bending machine, and I do not Wishtobeunderstood aslimiting myself to the exactstructure shown except as setforth in the following claims when construed in the light of the priorart.

Having thus" described my invention, I claim:

1. In a machine of the character described,

the combination with ablock having a series of grooves for supporting aplurality of wires, of means for initially and permanently bending, saidwires, means to'retain said wires in saidinitial bending meansandseoondary bending means adapted to bend certain wires in the plane ofall of. the wires and simultaneously bend one of the wires out of saidplane. j 1 i 2. Ina machine of the character described, the combinationwith a stationary support for a-plurality of wires, of means for bendinga portion :offsaidwires in one direction and 'simul aneously bending theremainder of said wires in the opposite direction, anda handlev adaptedto be swung in .onedirection foreflt'ecting all of the bends by a singlemovement'of said handle.

- 3.:A machinemfor forming the supporting wires for avacuum tubecomprising means for bending wires in a plane, and means for bending oneof the wires out of said plane, said means. operating contemporaneouslyto effect all the bends by the movement of a single operating member.

4. A. machine of the character described having a plurality of bendingposts each post having a notch in its end, and means for simultaneouslyrotating and revolving said bending'posts; Y I 5; AJnachine of thecharacter des-xcribed comprising a plurality of bending posts havingslots in the ends thereof, means for moving said bending posts and meansfor temporarily retaining the ;wires in said slots while the said wiresare bent.

6. A machine of the character described comprising a plurality ofbending posts havingslotsin the ends thereof for receiving wires; ineansfor temporarily holding the wires in said'slots, and means for rotatingand revolving said bending posts.

A 7.;A. machineof the character described comprising a plurality ofnotched bending posts adapted-to receive and bend a plurality of wiressaid notches extending entirely across the ends of the posts, and otherbending means for bending wires after the same have been bentby thebending posts.

8. A machine of the character described comprising initial bendingmeans, a clamping member adapted to engage Wires while the same are bentby said initial bending means, means for engagingagainst certain wiresafter the initial bend has been made, and means for bending said wiresaround said engaging means for obtaining a further bend in the wires.

9. A machine of the character described comprising initial bendingmeans, a hinged clamp for retaining wires in said bending means, meansfor engaging and obtaining a secondary bending of the wires, and a slidefor operating said secondary bending means.

10. A machine of the character described comprising initial bendingmeans, a hinged clamp adapted to retain wires in said bending means, andsecondary bending means carried by the hinged member adapted to bendcertain wires in the plane of all of the wires simultaneously bend oneof the wires out of said plane.

11. A machine of-the character described comprising means for bendingthe wires of an electron dischargedevice laterally in a single plane andone of the wires transversel'y out of said plane, and a handle adaptedto be swung in one direction for effecting all of the bends by a singlemovement of said handle.

12. A machine of the character described comprising initial wire bendingmeans, a clamp for retaining wires in said means while bendingthe wires,and means for preventing removal of said retaining means until thebending of the wires is complete.

13. A machine for bending wires of the character described having aplurality of notched bending members, and means for simultaneouslyrotating and revolving said bending members. 14. A machine for bendingwires of the character described having a plurality of notched bendingmembers and means for eccentrically revolving said members in oppo sitedirections and simultaneously rotating said members. s

15. A machine of the character described including means for giving adouble bend to a first wire to provide said wire with two ofisetportionsextending in opposite directions from an intermediate portion, saidofiset portions being in substantially the same plane and means fordoubly bending another wire with two opposite portions in a differentwhich the secondary bending of the said wires in different planes iseffected simultaneously.

.17. A machine of the character described including means forsimultaneously bending a plurality of wires with the bends thereof innested formation in the same plane, means for giving a secondar bend toone of said wires to provide said wire with an offset portion.

18. Amachine of the character described including means for providing afirst wire with two reverse bends intermediate its ends, all theportions of said wire being in the same plane, and means for roviding asecond wire with two reverse ben 5 intermediate its ends, all theportions of said second wire being in a plane substantiallyperpendicular to that of the first wire.

In testimony whereof, I hereunto affix my signature this 24th day ofApril, 1924.

VICTOR J. VERPENT.

plane from the offset portions of the first Y wire.

16. A machine according'to claim 15 in

